How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Following Aiden, the outskirts of Rockville that the group entered were typical, with wide roads and scattered low buildings. There were parking lots for each building, and not many barricades on the roads. 

It wasn’t a completely open area, but the terrain offered little hiding space if needed.

“Kiiii…”

On the road, zombies were noticeable. 

Whether they were stragglers from the zombie horde that passed through here yesterday or creatures emerging from nearby buildings was uncertain. 

Nevertheless, for such a small shopping district, the number of zombies was quite significant.

“…”

Nairik, hiding in the hamburger store they investigated yesterday, swallowed his saliva at the sight of those zombies. 

Controlled tension was felt in his eyes. The axe he was holding trembled slightly.

“We need to deal with them quietly.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to avoid them?”

Aiden raised his head at Nairik’s words. 

This path would soon be their return route anyway. So, it was wise to clean up the zombies along the way beforehand.

“I’ll lure them one by one.”

Aiden made a sound by lightly tapping the wall with the metal bat he was carrying. 

The nearest zombie immediately looked in that direction. However, as always, it didn’t glow with excitement. 

Aiden intentionally kept himself hidden and only made noise.

“Kiiik!”

The zombie, exploring and making noises, walked towards Aiden and the others. Once again, a sound tempting the zombie echoed on the ground. Just as the zombie was about to turn the corner, curious and expectant.

Thud!

Aiden’s bat mercilessly shattered its head. 

With a dull sound, the zombie fell backward like a rotten branch. 

At that clean strike, Nairik inwardly admired.

“One down.”

Aiden continued to lure and eliminate zombies in a similar manner. Although it took some time due to the large number, it was still morning.

There was no need to hurry. 

Moreover, they were currently in a state of traveling with an ordinary person like Nairik. So, dealing with zombies head-on and wasting bullets was not as wise as handling them safely and saving resources.

“Keep going.”

Soon, they passed the spacious intersection where the hamburger shop was located. 

Following a straight road, they saw shops lined up at intervals of tens of meters.

Among them was a general store – various tools and subtly useful items, such as rust removers.

“Can I stop by there for a moment?”

Nairik asked if there were any supplies there.

Aiden nodded.

Aiden was also curious about what was left there.

He led the group and moved near the general store, carefully hiding himself.

“Look, they’re visible.”

Aiden pointed with his finger.

The general store was a red-colored building with a glass entrance. Thanks to that, the interior was clearly visible without the need to go inside.

Inside the store and around it, as expected, there were zombies standing idly.

Their numbers weren’t too many – one inside the store and two in the outdoor parking lot. 

However, their close proximity made luring them one by one challenging.

“There’s no choice but to handle them all at once. Is that okay?” Aiden said, looking at the group.

Arian nodded lightly, and Nairik, holding his axe tightly, responded similarly.

Aiden assigned each person a zombie to deal with. Nairik would handle the zombie in the nearest parking lot, while Arian and Aiden would take care of the remaining two.

“…Let’s start.”

Those hiding behind the bushes moved accordingly. 

Arian circled the outskirts of the parking lot, smoothly sliding behind abandoned vehicles. Though there was no sound like a cat walking, her movements were swift.

On the other hand, Aiden circled to the opposite side and hid behind a large, neglected trash can.

After confirming everyone had moved to their designated positions, Aiden signaled Nairik.

“…”

Nairik nodded, emerged from the bushes, and, with slight trembling hands due to tension, approached the zombie standing idly in the parking lot.

“Kiiik!”

The zombie, sensing prey approaching, turned toward Nairik. Just before its rotten eyes gleamed with madness at the sudden appearance of food.

Thunk!

Nairik’s axe descended upon the zombie. With a squelching sound, the axe blade passed halfway through the zombie’s neck.

A heavy blow was loaded with weight. 

However, the zombie’s head was not completely cut off, revealing the partially severed neck bone inside the decayed flesh.

“Kiee-“

The zombie emitted a scream from the torn neck hole.

Nairik kicked away the approaching zombie’s chest with his front foot, causing the creature making strange noises to momentarily step back. During that moment, Nairik readjusted his grip on the axe.

Then, thunk!

The second strike finally completely severed the zombie’s neck bone. Relief and tension flickered rapidly across Nairik’s face.

“Coo…!”

At that time other zombies, hearing the noise, simultaneously turned their attention toward Nairik.

In the brief moment when the creatures were about to unleash their screams upon discovering fresh prey.

Swish!

A machete and a metal bat swooped down from behind them.

The two simultaneous attacks effortlessly split and crushed two heads.

After a momentary disturbance, silence returned to the general store. Aiden, confirming there were no more zombies, gathered the group.

“Whew…”

Nairik, who had rejoined, exhaled as if releasing built-up tension.

Although he seemed somewhat frail, compared to that, his recent axe skills were quite impressive.

“You’re quite skilled with the axe.”

“Well, I’ve used it a lot. Huh… But no matter how many times I do this, it always makes me nervous.”

Nairik replied with a slightly fatigued voice. Even so, there was a sense of relief in his gaze.

Surviving for the past three years wasn’t just a matter of luck.

Although he couldn’t sever a zombie’s neck in one go, it wasn’t a matter of skill. It was just a lack of strength. 

Nairik’s limitations were in having the strength of an ordinary person.

Severing a neck bone along with decaying flesh was not an easy task, even if it was a decaying corpse.

“By the way, you two are really amazing. Especially… Miss Clifford. How do you cut a zombie’s neck with a blade in one go? Is there a trick to it?” Nairik asked Arian.

However, since the answer was not a trick but something outrageous, Aiden smoothly changed the topic.

“We’ll talk about that later. For now, let’s search the surroundings. Wasn’t there something we needed to find?”

“Oh, right.”

Nairik roamed the general store and picked up several tools. 

Aiden also discovered some useful items in the automotive goods section, taking up about half of the general store.

Items like lubricants and engine oil, necessary for vehicle maintenance, ended up in Aiden’s hands. While these vehicle items were useful, they couldn’t always be carried around since there were clear limits to the capacity of the belongings they could carry.

No matter how much they use a vehicle, it would take up more than half of its total capacity, even if it’s just for food, water, and gasoline. Moreover, when including weapons and ammunition, there’s no way to carry such consumables with ease.

Therefore, the only answer for such supplies was to scavenge them on-site, and that’s exactly what they found.

Aiden had hidden some of these vehicle supplies in the bushes by the road outside the general store.

“Why did you put them there?”

“I’ll pick them up on the way back. No need to carry them unnecessarily, right?”

“Oh… I guess that makes sense.”

Having heard Aiden’s words, Nairik also placed the toolbox he was carrying next to them.

“Now, let’s move again.”

The group, having gathered some useful items at the general store, continued walking towards the north.

The destination, a supermarket, was not too far away, approximately 1 km. 

However, within that short distance, zombies appeared relentlessly – inside sparsely standing buildings, on the wide road, and even in the small residential area and cemetery on the opposite side of the road.

“I’ll take care of that one. And…”

Aiden thoroughly dealt with the zombies appearing with the rest of the group.

By the time they had cleared more than fifty zombies, the target destination, the supermarket, finally came into view at the northern end of the village.

“Here we are.”

It was a one-story building with a light brown color, lacking a single glass window. The size was just average, but the central door was firmly closed, with an iron shutter pulled down.

There were only five zombies wandering around the vicinity, fortunately keeping some distance from each other. 

Aiden and the group easily took care of them.

After dealing with the zombies, Aiden and the group searched for an entrance to get inside.

“Hmm…”

Aiden, who circled around the store once, sighed in frustration.

There was no visible entrance to go inside. Windows were still unseen, and besides the entrance at the front of the store, there was only a small back door for employees.

Even after using abandoned vehicles as footholds and climbing up to the top of the building to inspect ventilation openings, it was still not large enough for a person to enter.

A completely sealed building.

Seeing the closed door, Arian frowned.

“We might have to break the door or something.”

Arian muttered as if expressing her difficulty.

However, Aiden, unlike her, was quietly surprised.

“It seems a place like this still exists.”

“…What do you mean?”

“It seems like no one has come here since it closed.”

Hearing Aiden’s words, Arian widened her eyes.

In other words, unlike the many stores Aiden and Arian had encountered so far, this place remained untouched by anyone for the past three years.

“I knew the front entrance was blocked, but I didn’t expect there to be no entrance at all.”

Nairik remarked, a slight hint of perplexity in his words.

At first glance, opening and entering such a closed building may seem like discovering a treasure trove.

Surprisingly, the results might not be that good. 

Sometimes this way you open the door to a cave full of zombies.

“Can you detect anything inside?”

So Aiden asked Arian.

Arian shook her head.

This meant that there were no zombies inside.

“Are you going in?”

This time Nairik asked.

Upon hearing his words, Aiden let out a short sigh.

If there were no zombies inside, there was no reason not to enter. The problem was the method.

The easiest to break through immediately was the small back door for employees.

However, it was made of steel and was a type of door that opened from the inside to the outside.

With the current tools, an axe or a bat, there was simply no way to open it. So Aiden naturally looked at Arian.

“Is it possible?”

He asked her, and Arian nodded her head.

As if it was nothing special, she said to Nairik:

“Lend me the axe.”

“The axe?”

“My machete won’t work. Also, it might be quite noisy. There’s a good chance the surrounding zombies will gather. Is that okay?”

Arian warned Aiden.

Aiden, seeming to understand, prepared his gun and magazines. He glanced at the rooftop where he had looked down on the scenery earlier.

Nearby, there were no tall buildings, so just climbing up there provided a clear view.

Aiden had already identified the positions of nearby zombies at that time.

Fortunately, this place was at the end of the village, with only abandoned fields beyond it. So, there weren’t too many zombies there, and there were no zombie hordes passing by.

Even if Arian made noise, at most, only a few dozen zombies would come rushing.

Was it worth fighting them, investing bullets, and entering the supermarket?

Aiden pondered this and soon came to the conclusion that it was worth the investment.

“Alright. We’ll handle the guard duty.”

So, Aiden eventually said that.

Nairik handed the axe to Arian, taking the gun instead.

Aiden and Nairik moved away from the employee door, not only for guarding but also because Aiden didn’t want to show Arian breaking the door.

“Are you sure about this?”

Nairik asked with a bewildered face.

Aiden, not being a sturdy guy and with a teenage girl about to break a steel door with an axe, understood why Nairik asked. However, the answer came from behind.

Bang!

As if a bomb had exploded, an unexpectedly loud noise burst out from the iron door.

Nairik’s eyes widened, but he couldn’t turn around.

The noise was much louder than Nairik expected.

He knew all too well what such a loud noise would attract.

“They’re coming!”

Aiden shouted.

Corpses were rushing from the north.